Lumber or Plank?

I finally came home from Alaska (what an awesome summer!) and Sunday evening we got together with Mom and Dad and my sister's family for dinner. But before we ate we wanted to explore some new talents in the family. Since Dad has gotten us real familiar with lumber and wood in our lives, we decided to PLANK! Go Kelly...

Taylor seemed to have the real talent in the family. You can see if you look real close at the muscles in his face and neck that he was not comfortable in this position, but he is a definite stud!

Taylor really showed his stuff when he went between these two posts. Paisley wasn't too sure of how to do the whole planking thing, but being in this picture, it is obvious to me that she is just adorable.

Finally, my all time favorite picture, my young niece Berry! First time planker, doesn't she look like she is part of the porch. She is just so stinking cute :)

Eagle

Eagle. Kelly I know you were wanting me to get pictures of some different wildlife, and well, this eagle was hanging out right next to the yard. I noticed him as I was going to pretrip my bus, and yeah, it became a photo opportunity. Yup yup.

The best part was that I wanted to get a photo of the eagle flying, so I tried to scare it by yelling at it, jumping up and down, waving my arms, lol, of course none of it worked. All of the other drivers that I looked pretty funny. Good times.

Shamefully Late on the Update!

I know. It's shameful. To think, I waited a whole week before updating my blog. I don't know if you knew this, but I recently had a birthday on the 4th of September!!! I'm a whopping 22 years old, and I feel like a lot has happened this past year. I learned how to work on diesel trucks for my Uncle Steve. I learned how to crush my leg under a trailer. Then I learned how to drive a 40 foot bus. Now I've learned how to tour my guests all through Juneau. Wow, now that I look back, doesn't seem like much. I only count four. Haha.... good thing you know that I'm joking, and that in reality I've learned quite a bit. Thank you to everybody who has been there along the way, especially my family who has supported me the whole time and taken care of me. I love you guys!!!

Well, on to the good stuff. This previous week and a half has been full of different events. First of all, I totally KISSED a GIRL!!!! I know, outrageous!!!! Ha, if you don't know who it is, I'm not going to tell (I don't think she would appreciate me blogging about it), but I will tell you she is a real sweetheart. Besides, who could pass up the view we had :)

Considering the fact that the end of the season is approaching it has become more and more appropriate to shop the 50% off sales going on everywhere. I finally bought an Alaska fleece for 20 bucks, not a bad deal. Also was looking at hats. Couldn't quite find the right one...oh well...

We finally had some blue sky, and I just couldn't resist the temptation to take yet another picture of the glacier. I swear, there is a camera magnet when you see the Mendenhall Glacier. Before you know what has happened you'll find the camera in your hand and the picture already taken.

The saddest events happening now, though, are all the fellow co-workers/friends that are leaving for the year. I doubt I will see very many of the ever again, but we are constantly getting together to celebrate and eat more and more food.

If you look at the red head to the left and move in a counter clockwise rotation: John King, Kristin Strouder, Phil Merrel, Taylor, Stefani, Adam, Nick Steffel, Hillary (long blonde hair), Laura-Rudy, and finally Kristin in the front. Now these are just 10 of the many many people that I've grown to respect and love. It is always fun getting together with them, whether it be a group, or just at work, and the one leaving will be sorely missed.

Well, besides that, my hours have picked up quite a bit (I just finished a 13.5 hour day), and things are getting a little crazy. But its awesome!!! We no longer have ships coming in on Fridays, and I only have 2 weeks and 3 days left. See you all soon!!! :)

Three Notable Events

So we've had quite the rainfall here in Alaska Juneau. Shoot me now! Like 8 inches in the last 10 days, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I will tell you one thing, it became necessary to purchase rain pants and a new rain jacket. I now wear them both daily, and if it ever stops raining I take them off (in front of my passengers, while I'm driving, of course, haha). 

This was the first notable day that I thought I would catch on video.I later found out that I was in the wrong place.... Just kidding...

I found a bear at the glacier again. I wasn't even going to stay at the parking lot, but when I saw a crowd standing on the side of the road, I knew I had to be a part of it. It was a cool bear, that is for sure.

This was the third notable event this week that I was extremely excited about!!! As you can tell by my voice I am quite thrilled. Its unfortunate that the guests I had with me this day could not quite grasp the importance of the sun that had not shown its face in over a week. Now its Friday night and I am relaxing in my room getting ready for the Saturday through Wednesday stretch. Love y'all!

Fun Float Trip

Well, I finally got a day off on Thursday and thought that I needed to comp another tour. So I decided to go on a FLOAT TRIP!!!

Before they let us on to the water in the raft we get to wear waterproof boots and pants, with a life vest. The push off point is at the Mendenhall Lake. The glacier is there behind me.

Before reaching the river this is the last view of the glacier. I noticed that the water was a little higher than normal so I was excited to get a little wet along the way.

There were many beautiful homes along the rivers edge, this one stood out to me. All those windows look directly at the glacier. The only bad thing that can occur is the flooding that takes place during heavy rains or freak accidents like the one that happened a few weeks ago.

This was my guides favorite view of the glacier along the river. I took this right before we went into some small rapids. The guide knew that I was a driver here in Juneau so he took the liberty of getting me pretty well soaked. It was a great time!

Here I could see the group ahead. With the dead tree, background, and mist rising off the water, it was a spectacular view. Unfortunately we didn't see any wildlife.

Our finish point was underneath the bridge. The total distance we floated down river was about 5 miles. Definitely a level -1 when it comes to white water rafting, but with a few good splashes it was well worth my time. Juneau is just gorgeous. 

This was before going down the river. It didn't seem appropriate to be yelling out about what you are seeing. Just know that is was a great day.